East Pikeland tech firm calls Pottstown home

The Royal Netherlands Navy conducts a training exercise using the VideoRay Pro 4 equipped with a Blueview P900-130 sonar in Den Helder, Netherlands. VideoRay submersible units are used around the world and are assembled in Pottstown. Photo by Niels Visser - Courtesy of VideoRay

It was just last February when VideoRay LLC, a leading tech firm in the production of Underwater Remote Operated Vehicles, announced it wanted to call Pottstown home.

VideoRay started to put down roots in the borough: acquiring the Levitz building at 212 High St., choosing an architect and general contractor and converting the building into 32,000 square feet for sales, marketing, business development, administrative and production staff, with room to grow.

In December, the company completed its move, establishing Pottstown as its global headquarters.

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VideoRay’s most recent home had been a restored barn in East Pikeland. But VideoRay Vice President Chris Gibson said it outgrew the space. While most companies like VideoRay are located near the ocean, southeastern Pennsylvania is where VideoRay wants to remain.

“The reason that we’re here, in southeastern Pennsylvania, is because that’s where the founders of the company grew up. We’ve all traveled all over the world and this is where we call home. This is where we want to live. This is where we want to bring up our families,” Gibson said.

Gibson said the company looked at land in different areas, but Pottstown presented a unique opportunity for the firm. He said the company was excited by plans promoting commercial and industrial development in Pottstown. The project moved forward with the help of the borough and Pottstown Area Industrial Development Inc.

Industrial development Executive Director Steve Bamford echoed the enthusiasm, citing VideoRay executives as a partner in recruiting new business to Pottstown.

“It has really excited me that they have bent over backward in our marketing efforts to recruit additional business to town,” Bamford said. “They are always more than happy to allow me to bring people into their facility. Not a week goes by that I don’t share the VideoRay story and it gets a favorable reaction. They could locate anywhere, and they chose our community.”

VideoRay’s business is not your ordinary product line. Its Underwater ROVs are used by the military, governments, law enforcement and industry. The equipment assures waterways are safe, finds drowning victims, detects contraband, inspects infrastructure like bridges and water tanks, as well as serves aquaculture, port security, treasure hunters and recreational divers.

The U.S. National Park Service used VideoRay technology to create a 3-D high-definition underwater documentary of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor that is shown in the visitor’s center there.

Since the company was founded in 1999 by Scott Bentley, more than 2,000 VideoRay ROVs have been built and put into service, making VideoRay the world’s largest ROV producer. Gibson said the company has set a goal in 2013 to ship 300 to 325 units. “It’s not huge quantities,” he said, adding “we still look at ourselves as a custom manufacturer.”

In relocating to Pottstown, Gibson said the vision was to restore the High Street building that once housed the Levitz furniture store to its 1920s grandeur. As visitors walk through the building, they walk on original hardwood floors, see exposed brickwork and original tiled ceilings. Where the original flooring or ceiling couldn’t be used, materials replicate the look.

Since VideoRay moved into the borough, its local workforce has increased by 10 employees to about 40, and Gibson said it can see additional employees being added as the business expands.

For employees, moving from the country to a town had them a little apprehensive at first.

“We’re used to dodging geese, and horses and goats. Now we’re down to dodging people and cars. It’s been nice,” said Brian Luzzi, marketing manager.

“We didn’t know what to expect when we moved in here, but it’s been a pleasant surprise. When we go out to eat we’re always welcomed with open arms. The people are very nice and they have accepted us as part of the town,” said Gibson.

“I am always bumping into them at lunch. That is a real tangible impact on the downtown,” Bamford said of the VideoRay employees.

Gibson said it is important to them to put down deep roots in their new community. The company has worked with Montgomery County Community College to offer lunchtime classes to employees, and VideoRay is gearing up to begin offering employee exercise programs and shower facilities, he said.

“I am excited because early on, they sat down with the community college to collaborate on partnership opportunities. Whenever we can strengthen the business and college relationships, that’s a good thing,” Bamford added.

Looking ahead, VideoRay plans to turn some currently unused space into apartments to accommodate international clients and the company’s dealers and other partners that visit. Part of that effort will be the removal a portion of the building facade, which will reveal an original brick front and some long-covered windows. Another plan includes setting up office space for tech firms in several unused suites.

“We could give them space here. It would help develop our business and be good for Pottstown as well,” Gibson said.

On a recent balmy late-January day, VideoRay was hosting two representatives from Jamaica homeland security to get updates on product lines and testing a new unit for the U.S. Navy that will be used to help locate underwater mines.

At the same time, employees were assembling new VideoRay ROV units while others were diagnosing issues and making repairs. Shelves throughout the area held rows of bright yellow VideoRay remote cameras — ready to be shipped to customers.

At the edge of the busy workshop, a test tank that holds 5,000 gallons of water and is 10-feet deep is used to test all equipment being repaired and constructed. “This is where everything happens. This is the most important part of the company,” Gibson added.

VideoRay maintains an R&D group at its former offices in Chester County, along with offices in Rhode Island, North Carolina, Houston and San Diego.